The Curse of European Radio

I had heard rumors that European countries were rife with bad American music on their radio stations. I have discovered, unfortunately, that Finland has not escaped this curse, and all the rumors are true. But it is not just bad American music (though that takes up most of it, no surprise there)... it is bad music no matter where it is from. If you think listening to American Top 40 is bad, thank your lucky stars for popular alternative rock and grunge. It is like Chopin compared to what they circulate on European radio.

Turn the dial to any channel, and you will, at least 3 times a day, hear Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Think they play "I Kissed a Girl" too often on American Radio? I once heard it played on the same station just 3 songs after it had already been on. I probably hear it five times a day, if not more. And anything from the 80s you won't hear in America because it is too cliche, you will hear here all.the.time. Like "My Heart Will Go On", anything by Michael Jackson, the Backstreet Boys, the first 5 hits of Britney Spears, "It's Raining Men"... you know, things that Mix 103.1 in Anchorage won't even touch!

But, as I said, this bad music curse is not only reserved for bad American music. There is a song that is played constantly by an artist called Anastasia that goes "I can feel you, when I touch you, when I kiss you... I can feel you, from my head to my toes". Really? You can feel this person when you TOUCH them? I am SO happy your nervous system works! I wish there was a disorder where people lost the sensation of feeling, so I could pretend this was a song about someone who was cured of it. But no such disorder exists... there is only one where people cannot feel pain. Oh, but I feel pain. Pain in my ears.

I also discovered that it is very difficult to explain to a European that Americans hate disco. The other week I had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: "It is nice to hear techno music played here. It is nearly non-existent on American radio because it reminds people of disco, so they're afraid to play it."

European: "Afraid... of disco???"

Me: "Yes."

European: "But I thought Americans loved disco!"

Me: "Well, they did... in the 70s. But then around 1979 everyone got sick of it and they had disco burning bonfires and then everyone hated it."

European (looking confused and aghast): "But they must have played some disco in the 80s... just a little."

Me: "Nope. No disco in the 80s. Not in America."

European: *complete disbelief*

Somehow that whole anti-disco movement in America never was even registered as happening in the European mind. In Europe disco just started becoming really popular in the 80s, and that is when a lot of European bands started doing their own disco songs. So while disco and the disco ball is inherently connected to the 70s in America, in Europe when a really popular disco song comes on the radio, you will hear young people yell "Disco! 80s!" And, to an American, that is bizarro world.

Along these lines, the other night I attended a dinner with 10 other young people from 9 different countries (one was another American) ranging 4 continents of the world. It was amazing to hear old American cultural meme phenomena spit at me in 2008 from Kenyans and Italians and Germans. I stepped in the door and was greeted by wagging tongues shouting "Wazzz Uppppppppp!" Just like those annoying beer or football or nacho commercials or whatever they were from a decade ago. And they weren't mocking my American-ness. Honestly, it's just what they do, because now it is a world-wide meme. It is quite amusing to hear these things constantly in conversation amongst young people in an international setting... because in America, if you said any of those old worn-out memes from commercials and songs and movies... you'd probably get punched. So, America, you can be proud of your trend-setter status. But you probably should be shot for the trends you set. And, my friends (who can resist a McCain meme??), in the very Kantian vein, next time you repeat a catchy line from American media, think to yourself "Would I really want everyone in the world to constantly be saying this all of the time a decade from now?" and I bet, most of the time, you'll keep your American mouth shut.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Being French

I have been up to quite a lot. Meeting Finnish University students, going to visit churches and museums and the English paddle boat from the Crimean war (once I get the camera connector I will edit all my previous posts and add the relevant pictures). Also swimming and more sauna, of course. I like young Finnish women because they dress like very stylish yet conservative Russians, but they don't come off as having any attitude like lots of Russian women do--they are very sweet and caring right off the bat. Obviously my impression of young Russian women comes from my encounters at UAA, though. It's possible they are different when in their own country.

Going swimming helped me realize something, though. I am actually glad I am not one hundred percent Finnish. When I was younger I would lament this fact, because it is more common to be of French ancestry and I liked my "exotic" Finnish ancestry. When people would ask what my background was, most of the time I would just say "Finnish". I also connected more with the Finnish in me because it was much more celebrated and visible compared to the French side of my family. But now I am yearning to go to France and make it more visible and celebrated for myself. Not that I am disliking my time in Finland whatsoever... sorry to say, it is much better run and seems to be a more just society than what I have back in America. And I do like a lot about this culture's peculiarities... how bumping into each other is not anything to feel apologetic or guilty about. How your front lawn is not only for green grass but for an individual statement of landscaping. How you eat berries on top of savory foods, not just sweet ones.

However, I have come to see that there are some things about the Finnish cultural personality that I am not very keen on. For you Alaskans, imagine a country full of all the REI-shopping, New Sagaya-lunch grabbing, Subaru-driving, Kaladi-drinking, Cross-country-skiing, Plastic-recycling blokes and gals in Anchorage. There is a lot of good that comes from living a lifestyle in that demographic. There is *gasp* also some bad. Especially with the slightly older Finnish crowd, the parents and grandparents, there is no such thing as enjoying life. Everything is done with a purpose in mind, there is no such thing as an end in and of itself in any activity. Like I mentioned before, the Finns are obsessed with counting calories and fat intake. They are also obsessed with logging exercise. For someone who used to have an eating disorder, this is highly frustrating. And being someone who basically 'self-therapized' herself out of having eating disorders, I think I know what is important when it comes to eating and staying fit. I am not at all saying the Finns all have eating disorders. I am saying they do not know what is important.

You can't just go on a walk because you'd like to, you go on a walk to get exercise. This is evidenced by the fact that almost everyone employs those Nordic walking poles so they "stay fit" on their walks. You can't just go swimming because it is fun, you go swimming to build muscle. You can't even just go orienteering to hone a skill and enjoy nature; it is all for the absolute purpose of staying fit. In my personal philosophy, one stays fit because it is easier to enjoy life that way. It seems to me that everyone here forgoes enjoying simple activities to focus on staying fit. What's the point? I'm not sure. There is also a culture of "live to work" here that I find similarly repulsive in America. Everyone is very focused on careers and everyone ignores their illnesses to go to work until they are too ill to physically be able to even transport themselves to work, when at last they finally call in sick. These things are quite sad to me. There's never any time or thinking power left to enjoy life after all of this working and running around and counting fat content and logging exercise. I used to only worry and concern myself with most of those things, too. It led to an obsession with perfection that gave me the lovely habits of starving myself and self-hurting. Obviously I was not in balance. But then I embraced my "French side", learned that life can sometimes be about eating food because it tastes good and going on walks because the world is beautiful to observe, and I got the heck over myself. If I could, I would mandate that the Finns start using real butter on their toast and all the adults must go to a water park where there are no lanes for swimming laps but there is a giant slide and fountain, and then go dancing afterward without the aid of alcohol. I mean, no wonder Finland has drinking problems. People just won't let their brains enjoy life so they turn them off and let their bodies do the enjoying (until the morning after)! Uh obviously I am making gigantic, humongous, whopping, enormous generalizations. But they are not unfounded. But I will let these observations rest in this blog post, and get back to enjoying my time here ;)

Driven

Today I can be very proud of myself--I rode the city bus for the first time. I got from the school where I work all the way to the house without having to ask anyone for help or directions! It was quite an enjoyable experience, as well. The Kokkola city buses are very large with big cushioned seats and lots of leg room. They are similar to American tour buses--but nicer. They are nothing like American city buses. There are storage grates to put luggage or laptops in near the ceiling, and options to turn lights on above the seats just like in an airplane. It does cost nearly 3 euros, but I would say it is worth it for a 30 minute ride once a week. If I start taking the bus more, I might look into passes.

One thing hugely different in Kokkola from Anchorage (and thus I extrapolate to a difference between the US and Europe) is that the streets are so much smaller here, and the sidewalks are so much bigger. I really wish I could upload my pictures (Race sent the wrong camera connector so it might be another two weeks, sorry...), but two lanes of traffic on a main road here is the same size as one and a half lanes of traffic in Anchorage. Two lanes of traffic on a neighborhood street is nearly the equivalent of only one lane of traffic on an Anchorage street. The sidewalks are equally as big as one lane on the road, and in neighborhods there is usually a "median", also the same width as a traffic lane, covered with grass and trees that separates the sidewalks from the traffic. Such small traffic lanes and such low visibility around corners has trained everyone here to be a very defensive driver and always be looking out for what other people are doing--however, everyone I have driven with so far has also been largely prone to distraction and it is a wonder that there are not fender-benders every 5 seconds. It is illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving, yet everyone I have ridden with (I think 5 people) almost always ends up on their cell phone at least once on the road... even if the trip is only 5 minutes long.

The other morning on the way to school there were men in flourescent vests stopping traffic in front of us. "What is going on?" I asked. "They are testing alcohol levels." My host father answers. Sure enough, I see them stop every vehicle and stick a breathalizer into the driver's side window. "Do they have this in America?" He asks. I said no, because as far as I know there is never random unnanounced screening for alcohol that holds up traffic... tell me if I am wrong. "This is good, I think, because there are drinking problems here." My host father says. I think to myself, yeah, but do they really expect to find anyone drunk at quarter to 8 on a Monday morning on a road that goes toward the hospital and school? That seems to me like they are doing it because they are mandated to, but they picked a time when they knew they wouldn't have to deal with anyone actually being drunk.

Also everything here is measured in liters instead of gallons, gas and milk are sold by the liter and it is 1 euro and 44 cents per liter for gasoline. You can do the math. I wonder if that gas tax goes into making the city buses so awesome. Oh, there are also purple curtains you can pull over the windows on the bus if you want to. Every single car I have been in here is a stick shift. Does anyone know why this is? Do manual cars use less gas? Stick-shift driving makes me car sick!! :(